LG scraps AAP govt's appointment of DERC head

Jung’s office said Saini was appointed as the chairman of the power regulatory body of Delhi in March with the approval of the LG as mandated under the procedureDebapriya Mondal | ETEnergyWorld | September 21, 2016, 19:12 IST

New Delhi: The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Najeeb Jung, has set aside the appointment of Krishna Saini as Chairperson of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission and has asked the elected government to initiate the process of selection of a new chairperson.

Jung’s office said Saini was appointed as the chairman of the power regulatory body of Delhi in March with the approval of the LG as mandated under the procedure.

“As the constitution of the Selection Committee as well as the appointment of the Chairperson, Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) was done without putting up the matter to the Lt. Governor at any stage, for his views and concurrence, the entire process of appointment of DERC Chairperson has been vitiated right from the beginning and suffers from serious legal infirmities, “ LG’s office said in a statement.

It further said DERC is a statutory body, discharging important functions and illegalities in the appointment of Chairperson are bound to have legal and other repercussions.

“In the given circumstances, the appointment of Chairperson, Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) has been declared as void, ab initio,” LG’s office said in a statement.

The Delhi High Court is also hearing two public interest litigations regarding the appointment of Saini. The next hearing of the PILs is in Friday.

“To save the environment and to fight climate change, my government has planned a major campaign. By 2022, we want to generate 175 GW of renewable energy. In the last three years, we have already achieved 60 GW or around one-third of this target,” he said.